1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to telecommunication systems. More specifically, the invention relates to a system and method for providing a business contact center over a packet-based network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Businesses place the utmost emphasis on close contact with and focus on their customers. Traditionally that contact has involved the telephone for interfacing a customer with various departments in the business. The telephone and telecommunications companies use circuit switched technology to run voice communications over a communication path commonly identified as a public switched telephone network (PSTN). There are a limited range of options for contacts between a customer and business via a traditional PSTN phone. A customer can select with a touch tone pad a call queue to wait in, and they can be informed of the remaining time before their call will be accepted. When the customer is finally connected they may or may not be coupled to the proper department or employee within the business. The contact is not always productive for the customer. For the business considerable expense in terms of employee hours and equipment is involved in providing even this level of service to a customer.
While many business devote enough resources to handling contacts with customers equipped with phones, few exploit the high bandwidth and rich media capabilities of the communication devices with which many customers are now equipped. This generation of customers is equipped with communication devices including computers, cell phones and personal digital assistants. When customers contact a business with these communication devices they are handled in the same fashion as audio only customers.
What is needed is a more flexible model for handling contacts between a business and its customers.